Netherlands, or Holland, was neutral during World War I. Although the Schlieffen Plan, Germany's war plan for invading France not along the eastern border it shared with Germany, but along its northern border with Belgium and Luxembourg, called for invading and crossing Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands, Helmuth von Moltke, Schlieffen's successor as German Chief of the General Staff, modified the Plan to avoid Netherlands, in hopes of having a neutral trading partner with ports on the North Sea and access to global trade. (Britain's blockade would minimize the value of the Dutch ports.)

As a neutral nation, Netherlands was obligated to impound military personnel and assets of combatant nations. Among those it interned were British marines and soldiers who had crossed, mistakenly or otherwise, into the country after the retreat from Antwerp in October 1914.